


Breakaway

by Rynnsama



Category: Zero Chill (TV 2021)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, end of series spoilers, identity stuggles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-26 21:14:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30112110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rynnsama/pseuds/Rynnsama
Summary: Nico wanted to give Mac something before he went to Prague.
Relationships: 'Mac' MacBentley/Nico Haas, 'Mac' MacBentley/Sky Tyler
Comments: 16
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

“So this is your room huh?”

Mac looked up from his phone to see Nico standing in the doorway. He sat up quickly, a million thoughts running through his mind.

“What… What are you doing here?”

Nico walked into the room, looking around and very obviously avoiding eye contact.

“You’re dad let me up,” Nico shrugged, “I figured you’d have more of a shrine to yourself going here considering the way you are on the ice.”

“Wait, you should already know what my room looks like after that balloon stunt,” Mac couldn’t help the annoyance that crept into his voice as he thought back to the prank.

Nico started to laugh, “Yeah but that was the middle of the night and I was distracted by your snoring.”

“I ask again, what are you doing here?” Mac asked, trying to change the topic of conversation.

“Bear told me about the Wolverines,” Nico finally turned to look at him.

Mac blinked, he hadn’t thought that news about the offer would get around.

“Oh yeah,” Mac swallowed hard. Even after the team had finally accepted him back Nico was still a hard one to read. He wasn’t sure if they would ever get along.

“Contract like that is kind of a big deal, I’m surprised you didn’t gloat more,” Nico took a few steps closer to him.

“Yeah, well..”

Nico cut him off, “Look, there was just something I wanted to do before you left for Prague…”

“Does it have anything to do with bees?” Mac couldn’t help himself from asking.

“You’re such an idiot,” Nico reached out grabbing the collar of Mac’s shirt and pulled him to his feet.

They stared at each other for a moment before Nico leaned in, their lips meeting first in a shy hesitant kiss. Mac was so shocked he didn’t even know how to react. Since he didn’t pull away Nico attempted a second kiss, this one a little more forceful.

“I… uh…” Mac pulled back blinking.

“Sorry,” Nico stepped back, running his fingers through his hair. 

“You know I’m dating Sky right?”

“I know,” Nico flushed brightly, “I’ve just been thinking about it for a while and then when I heard you were leaving…”

Mac cleared his throat, “I… Nico, I turned them down. I’m staying in England. I’m still with the Hammers…”

“Shit…” Nico bit his lip. Quickly he turned to leave.

“Wait!” Mac reached out and grabbed his arm, “I won’t tell anyone about this okay? I’ll even forget about it if you want…”

“Thanks,” Nico pulled his arm away.

Mac wasn’t sure if he should follow him but soon he heard the front door and knew that Nico was gone. He exhaled slowly wondering how the next practice was going to go after something like this. He said he would forget about it but right now he wasn’t exactly sure how he was supposed to do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't decided yet if I'm going to continue this or just leave it as is. All I know is I had the one idea and I had to get it out of my head. I guess we just wait and see if more plot develops from it!


	2. Chapter 2

Mac groaned as he was checked against the boards. Nico had caught him off guard, practice was over and he wasn’t expecting a hit like that.

“What the hell is your problem?”

“My problem?” Nico scoffed, “What the hell was that?”

“What?” Mac was confused. He had tried to be a good team player, hell he’d even passed to Nico more than once during practice.

Nico’s eyes darted around to make sure they were alone on the ice. 

“You said you were going to forget about it!” He hissed.

Mac blinked, rubbing his side tenderly. That last check might actually leave a bruise.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Nico just scoffed, “You don’t think I can tell that you were taking it easy on me out there? And what the hell were those passes? A fucking puck hog like you doesn’t pass…”

“You think that was because…” he trailed off, not able to finish the sentence. It wasn’t because he was ashamed or anything, just that he promised Nico he wouldn’t say anything about it.

“What else could it be?” Nico glared.

“Dude, you’ve all been riding my ass ever since I got here to be more of a team player and now that I’m finally trying you’re gonna give me shit about it?”

What the hell was up with this guy? First, he makes his life a living hell, then when he thought Mac was about to leave he kissed him and now he was being an asshole again?

“Forget it,” Nico stared at him for a moment before skating away.

“I keep trying to but you won't let me,” Mac muttered to himself as he followed the other to the dressing room.

\--

"What do you think that was all about?"

Kayla was up in the cafe with Sky. She had been trying to do some homework while waiting for the Hammer practice to finish so they could get some ice time. 

Sky just shrugged, "Probably nothing, Nico and Mac have been at odds with each other from the start."

"You think?" Kayla couldn't help but wonder as she watched the two boys skate off the ice. 

Having finally patched things up with Mac and now knowing that they were staying in England she couldn't help but worry. The last thing she wanted was for her twin to have another falling out with his team. 

Mac was an idiot who sometimes rubbed other people, including herself, the wrong way. 

"I can ask him about it later if you like," Sky offered.

Kayla shook her head, "I'm sure you're right. It's probably nothing."

"So are you ready to work on some new choreography today? I had some ideas that I wanted to try out."

Kayla's eyes lit up as she turned her attention back to Sky and all thoughts of her brother disappeared. 

"Of course! If we're really going to try to sell this all-girl pair, we're gonna need a  _ killer _ program. We'll make sure they won't be able to ignore us," she spoke excitedly as she reached out to take Sky's hands.

For the first time since losing Jacob and leaving Canada, Kayla could finally say she was happy.

\--

"How did it go with Sky tonight?" Jenny asked as she placed the salad bowl on the table and sat down with her family.

"So good!" Kayla replied as she began to fill her plate with food. "Sky has so many amazing ideas and it's so fun and laid back. Such a breath of fresh air after working with Elina."

Mac snorted, "Yeah she was insane. And I thought Coach was bad."

"Don't talk about the Hammarström's like that," Luke piped in as he tried to fill his plate before his children ate it all.

"Anton and Elina were both the best in their sport. They expect excellence and nothing is wrong with that," Luke continued.

"Besides," Jenny smiled as she speared some salad with her fork, "your time with Elina wasn't wasted. Maybe her way wasn't perfect for you but your form has improved a lot. You're a better skater now than you were."

"And you," Luke pointed to his son beaming, "you've grown a lot under Anton. I saw you out there today, you're starting to become a real team player. So maybe things didn't work out with the Wolverines, I'm sure you'll have more offers before you know it."

The mention of the earlier practice caused Mac to blush as he remembered his encounter with Nico at the end of it all. Maybe he’d made the wrong decision about the Wolverines. At the time it had seemed right. He was finally gelling with the Hammers, they had accepted him for who he was even if he could be a proud, clueless asshole at times. Things had just started between him and Sky and watching his sister skate at Blade Star with his girlfriend… Well, he had caused enough hurt in Kayla’s life already with the move to England, it only seemed fair to do this one thing for her even if it was sort of for himself too.

It had been all too easy to lie and say that Zelezney had rescinded the offer after the mess he had made of the first half of the game. It wasn’t a  _ total _ lie. He had seen the look on the Wolverines coach’s face and he knew that if the rest of the game had played out like the start that would have been his fate.

“Wow, Mac getting praise and not being an ass about it?” Kayla reached over placing her hand on his forehead. “Are you sick? Did you take another puck to the head?”

“Shut up Kayla,” Mac stood up abruptly from the table and stormed up to his room.

Thoughts were still swimming around his mind as he flopped onto his bed and he sighed. He needed to be careful, his dad had warned him to stay out of his head. Last thing he needed was to start sucking on the ice again.

The night with Nico played through his mind over and over.

_ I turned them down. _

Mac sat up at lightning speed. In the moment he hadn’t been watching what he’d said! The last thing he needed was for Nico to go around saying he had  _ turned down _ a contract. Especially when his family thought he’d never gotten it, to begin with.

He grabbed his phone, scrolling through his teammate’s contacts until he found the one he needed. His fingers flew across the letters as he quickly typed up a message.

_ M: Nico, can we talk? _

“Hey, Mac?”

He almost threw his phone in surprise as he looked up to see his sister hovering in the doorway.

“What is it?”

“Everything okay? I saw you and Nico on the ice today…” she hesitated before walking into the room and sitting down beside him.

“What? Yeah, everything is fine,” he replied quickly. The last thing he needed was 20 questions from his twin. They knew each other too well and if she probed too much he would probably fall apart.

“I’m sorry about teasing you at dinner….” she frowned. “Are you sure things are okay? If you had another falling out with the Hammers you’d tell me right?”

Mac nodded, “Of course. Nico was just giving me a hard time about being a puck hog again. It’s nothing, Kay.”

She studied him for a moment before nodding and standing. “Okay, well I’m going to go and devour some of that salted caramel ice cream dad has in the freezer. You want some?”

Mac nodded, “Sure. I’ll be down in a minute.”

Kayla smiled at him before leaving.

He looked down at his phone to see the dots meaning Nico was replying.

_ N: Where and when? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess this has actually become something because I keep getting ideas and writing LOL Super huge thank you to everyone who has commented as well as those who have left kudos! It's always greatly appreciated, especially when you're currently the only fic in the fandom. Hopefully, things pick up soon!!!


	3. Chapter 3

Nico sighed, taking a look around the park to see if Mac was around before sitting down on a bench. 

Honestly, when Mac had said he’d forget about the kiss he should have known it was too good to be true. Trust him to make a big deal out of it and not let it go.

He wasn’t sure what had overcome him that night, he was still trying to figure it out himself. He had always known he was different from the other guys on the team. Whenever they would talk about girls and their girlfriends he just didn’t  _ get _ it. Well okay, of course, he  _ got  _ it but not when it came to girls. Guys on the other hand… that was a completely different story. 

It wasn’t like he had been attracted to Mac when he first showed up, in fact, he had been pissed. Up until the time that Mac MacBentley joined the team he had been the star and Hammarström had paid him the most attention. So when Mac joined the team he had been jealous, it wasn’t easy being replaced. Also, Mac could be a total jackass which hadn’t helped his case at all. By the time the Orcas game had come up, he had actually started to like the guy, or at least like teasing him. But the betrayal with the notebook, that had hurt. And more so than it should have. 

That was when he first realized what his feelings might actually be. Betrayal from a teammate sucked, but coming from Mac? Was a whole other level. He also found himself being pretty pissed about the whole Sky thing too but not just on Bear’s behalf.

When Ava had admitted she had been the one to give the book to Carson it was like a weight had been lifted. It was nice to finally welcome Mac back as a part of the team and as they trained for the Wolverines game they had started to actually work together. Sometimes it felt like they could almost read each other’s minds on the ice.

He had never allowed himself to have feelings like that for a teammate but seeing as his had grown from contempt, he hadn’t really seen them coming before it was too late. Knowing that Mac was leaving he wanted to at least take a chance. 

Being gay wasn’t really accepted in the Hockey circles so waiting for Mac to leave had seemed the right time to test out his feelings. Sadly it had backfired as Mac was still here and now he thought about kissing him again all the time. He didn’t need distractions on the ice.

“Hey, sorry! I didn’t think you’d get here so fast.”

Nico looked up to see Mac approaching.

“Look, I know you want to talk but I really think it’s for the best if we just leave the subject alone,” Nico decided he might as well be direct about it.

Mac blinked, confused for a moment before shaking his head, “I don’t want to talk about that. Well I mean I want to talk about that night but not the…  _ you know _ .”

Nico was happy that he wasn’t saying kiss but at the same time, it bothered him. If he couldn’t say the word did that mean he was uncomfortable with it? Did Mac now think less of him? He’d grown up hearing slurs on the ice, one of the reasons why he kept his feelings to himself.

“So what did you want to talk about then?”

Mac sighed as he sat down beside Nico on the bench. “Look, I wasn’t thinking when we were talking and I told you that I turned down the Wolverines. My family thinks I didn’t get the offer and I want it to stay that way…”

Nico gave him a funny look, “Why would you lie to them?”

“It’s complicated,” Mac sighed. “Kayla gave up everything back home for me. She’s been struggling so much since the move and she finally is happy again. She’s skating with Sky, I just started dating Sky…”

They shared a look and Nico knew that Mac had to be thinking about the kiss they had shared. Nico looked away.

“My dad is happy as assistant coach and honestly? The Hammers are starting to feel like family. My parents were going to split us up but I know Kay was going to decide to go to Prague, I could tell the way she looked after Blade Star. So when I got the offer I told him that I needed a little more time with Hammarström to learn.”

Nico couldn’t help a laugh, “You know you’re a moron for turning down a contract like that right?”

Mac laughed too, “I know,  _ I know _ ! But I can’t change that now so I guess you're stuck with me.”

“I’m not complaining,” Nico bit his lip as he turned to look at Mac again. He could feel his cheeks heat and he turned his attention to his watch. “I should get going if I want to be back before curfew.”

“Your parents are strict about that?” Mac asked.

Nico gave him a look, “I don’t live with my family. Not all of us were lucky enough to come here. My parents are back home working to afford to keep me here.”

“So who’s giving you a curfew then?”

“Hammarström set up a house almost like dorms. We have dorm  _ parents _ that make sure we eat, get to school and practice and keep curfew. I live with some of the other guys,” Nico explained. “You’re lucky you got to come here with your parents and sister.”

“I never thought of it that way but yeah, I guess you’re right,” Mac shrugged. 

“I’ll see you at practice?” Nico stood up, stretching.

Mac grinned, “Yeah, if you can keep up.”

\--

Mac tossed and turned a bit, he was having a hard time sleeping lately because there was so much on his mind.

The kiss Nico had given him was bothering him, but not because it was from a guy. No, that wasn’t the first time he’d shared a kiss with a teammate but he wasn’t sure he wanted to go down that road again.

Hockey wasn’t really a safe space for queers. Maybe things were starting to change but it was very slow and it was going to take a while before he’d ever feel safe being out in the locker room. He’d heard how guys talked, using slurs as insults without even thinking about it, just because they’d heard others do it too.

Carson had been his first guy. He wasn’t sure how it had started but it had and for a time, he’d actually really enjoyed going out with the other boy even if it had been in secret. At the time, that had been half of the fun. But then he and Carson had been up against each other for team captain and Carson had used the fear of outing him to get Mac to drop out of the running. The betrayal and heartbreak he’d felt at the time had been devastating and the move to England couldn’t have come fast enough. 

A story about a stolen girlfriend had been enough to cover up the falling out that the two boys had had. Once he’d left the Cyclones he thought he was done with Carson. That was until the nightmare that was the game against the Orcas had happened. What had his mom been thinking? Then again, she had no idea Carson was his ex.

Luckily for Mac, he wasn’t just interested in guys, he liked girls too. It just so happened he was more comfortable around guys and seemed to become a complete disaster in front of girls. When things had gone so badly with Carson he’d decided to focus only on female companionship for the foreseeable future, it was easier that way and far less messy.

Sky.

She was perfect. He loved her sense of humour and when she teased him he didn’t mind, usually, he deserved it. It was nice for once that he and his sister both enjoyed her company, that was a plus too. Meant that Sky was around a lot more than probably just a regular girlfriend would have been. Everything had been perfect and simple.

And then Nico had to go and kiss him.

Should he tell Sky about it? But then again he’d told Nico that he wouldn’t tell anyone about it. It didn’t feel right to keep something like that from his girlfriend though. 

Grabbing his pillow he held it against his face as he groaned in frustration, muffling the sound so he didn’t wake up his family. 

He could be friends with Nico though, right? There was nothing saying you couldn’t hang out with the person that had kissed you behind your girlfriend’s back. But that was it. He’d been burned once messing around with a teammate and honestly who knew, maybe Nico was messing around with him this time too. Nico had been the one hazing him when he joined the team and it was no secret that the other had been the team star up until Mac’s arrival. 

Whatever he decided to do, he needed to be cautious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update in a short time because this my new and shiny thing and I can't stop thinking about it lol Still hoping that more fics for the fandom start popping up!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who is reading and commenting! It means so much! It's so much easier to keep reading when I know that other people are enjoying it :)


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